


Into The Storm

by FedoraKing24, Sidtrap1987



Series: Black Scorpions Saga [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Drama & Romance, During Volume 5, F/F, F/M, Minor Character Death, Original Characters (RWBY) - Freeform, Original Faunas Characters (RWBY), Original Romantic Pairings, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2020-08-10 19:30:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20140795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FedoraKing24/pseuds/FedoraKing24, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sidtrap1987/pseuds/Sidtrap1987
Summary: This is a story my brother, my brother's best friend and I came up with during RWBY Volume 5. I hope you enjoy.





	1. Prologue

Name: Victor Asher

Age: 19

Race: Wolf Faunas

Hair: Short, black

Eyes: Blue

Semblance: Shadow Armor: the ability to create strong armor from shadows; the more shadows around, the stronger the armor

Extra Features: Grey Wolf Ears, Grey Wolf's Tail, Usually always wears a full white skull mask

Alias: Reaper

Bio: Victor Asher was born and raised outside the kingdom of Vale by his parents. At age ten, his mother and younger brother perished in a house fire. Cause was likely faulty wiring. His father's whereabouts are currently unknown. 

Wanted for obstruction of justice. Currently is a vigilante by the name of Reaper. 

Extra Notes: For some reason, he is able to be tracked with a unique magnetic pulse signature that can be detected from any scroll. Has evaded from security for months. We suspect that he has some kind of technology that allows him to teleport great distances of length in the blink of an eye. We want him brought alive for questioning of technology's origin. 4 bounty hunters have been dispatched. Only 2 are left remaining. Jack Jameson, alias Tesla, and Freddo Blade, alias Titan both from Vacuo. 


	2. Runaway

3rd P.O.V

_'Keep running, don't stop.'_

These are the thoughts that flash through Victor's mind. He sprints through the forest on the outskirts of Mistral away from the two bounty hunters pursuing him, He turns around and sees them a little distance away from him, close on his tail. The vigilante teleports several miles ahead, hoping to gain a further distance away from his pursuers. 

The sun has long since dipped down below the horizon and the cracked moon has by this point risen up into the starry night sky, giving off a faint glow in the darkness of the night. Victor quickly checks his scroll to check the time. The small digital clock on the scroll reads 2:00 a.m. He places the device back into his pocket. His wolf ears suddenly pick up leaves crunching. He checks behind him, searching for any sign of the bounty hunters, and to his luck, in the distance, he sees the two bounty hunters, still chasing him. 

Victor begins taking off again until he suddenly bumps into someone. The impact of that knocks him backward onto the ground, letting out a small grunt. The person then turns around, red eyes looking down at Victor. 

Qrow says in his gruff voice, "You should really be more careful. Hold on a minute...You look familiar."

Feeling uneasy, Victor responds, "I-I believe that you are mistaking me for someone else, sir."

Qrow shakes his head no, saying, "No, I don't think so. I've seen you before, but I can't quite put my finger on just where exactly I have."

The raven haired faunas's wolf ears perk up, hearing angry shouts coming from behind him. 

**"Get back here you little punk!"**

Victor quickly says, "Sorry, gotta go!", before taking off again. 

Another voice behind him says, "You won't get away this time, Reaper!"

Qrow then says, "Wait a minute..."

He suddenly transforms into a crow and begins flying up to where Victor is, and mid-air, he transforms back into his human form. He grabs the back of the hood of Victor's black jacket, bringing the teenager up to an abrupt halt. 

Qrow says, "You aren't going anywhere, criminal."

One of the bounty hunters comes flying with rocket boots, landing on the ground in front of Qrow. The armor he wears is silver and resembles that of ancient knight armor of old. The second bounty hunter sprints at a slow mechanized pace, completely get up in a full white robotic mechanized suit. The force of his footsteps colliding with the ground makes the area around him shake and vibrate.

Qrow asks, "Who are you and your friend here?"

He gestures towards the second bounty hunter, who still lingers behind them several yards away. 

The first bounty hunter says, "I'm Tesla, and that over there is Titan. We're bounty hunters working for Atlas."

Smirking slightly, Qrow asks, "So you're working for Ironwood then?"

"Yes."

"What is your business with this one here?"

Tesla then responds, "That is none of your concern."

Raising an eyebrow, Qrow asks, "What concern is he to Atlas?"

"That is classified information."

Qrow chuckles and takes out his flask of whiskey from his back pocket. Opening the cap, he takes a swig from it, before capping the lid and tucking it back.

"Of course it is."

The sleeve of his jacket raises up slightly, exposing his left arm. His left arm is a deep red color with bits of black on it. A thin rectangular shape of a glowing blue color rests on the robotic arm. The light of it gives off an eerie glow. Qrow's red eyes linger down to it, taking notice of it. He then takes notice of the torn blue jeans that Victor is wearing, which exposes two robotic golden plated legs with patches of black. Instead of wearing some kind of footwear, the shape of the feet resembles that of the heels of boots. 

With concern in his eyes, Qrow asks, "What happened to you?"

Victor looks up to meet Qrow's gaze. He finally gathers his voice, saying, "That's...personal."

Qrow says, "Seems you got into a nasty fight with someone."

"Yeah...you could say that", Victor says in a hesitant tone. 

Suddenly, the other bounty hunter, Titan finally makes it over to the three men, coming to an abrupt halt. 

Through the voice modulator in his helmet, Titan says in a mechanical-sounding voice, "Tesla! How are you so fast!? Next time, wait for me!"

Tesla looks over to his partner, saying, "Your armor is too heavy, Titan. I stick with lightweight armor so that I can be swift and quick. A useful advantage of pursuing criminals."

Titan sighs deeply, saying, "You've got a point. So, did I miss anything important?"

"Not really, no."

Qrow then pulls out his scroll to check the time. Tucking it back into his pocket, he says, "I've got to get going. I'll leave him here for you two to deal with."

He releases Victor's hood, and shoves him forwards, making the vigilante fall onto his knees in front of the bounty hunters. 

Walking away from them, Qrow says, "Have fun!"

Tesla pulls out a small circular device out of his pocket and places it on Victor's robotic arm. It causes some kind of chain reaction makes his robotic limbs lock in place, making him unable to move. 

Victor curses under his breath, before looking up into the helmet of Tesla through his skull mask. 

"There's no escaping this time, Reaper."


	3. Captured

3rd P.O.V.

A few hours later...

The two bounty hunters walk down a dark and dreary path, somewhere on the outskirts of Haven. Victor lies slung over Titan's shoulder, immobile due to the devices short-circuiting his robotic limbs. 

As the sun starts to set, the silence is finally broken between the three of them. Titan says, "Tesla. We need to take a break. My legs are killing me."

Tesla looks to his companion, saying, "Agreed."

The ancient-looking knight sits down, slinging off his blue backpack, followed by taking off his helmet, revealing his face. The white-skinned man has short brown hair and dark green eyes. A small brown haired beard rests around his mouth and chin. He looks to be around his mid-twenties. 

Titan meanwhile, slings Victor off of his shoulder, setting the vigilante down onto the ground. The mech suit then opens up from the back, allowing him to climb out of it. The dark brown colored man has short dreadlocks that are half colored white and half colored black, with a dread ponytail on the top of his head of hair. The pupils and irises of his eyes are both black, surrounded by white as most eyes are. He wears a black trenchcoat, with white-colored jeans and black boots. Underneath the black trenchcoat, is a black and white striped T-shirt. The trenchcoat reveals his arms, which are both clearly robotic. They are connected to his elbows, wherefrom the elbows up the man retains his human limbs. Two large flaming swords are connected to Titan's mech suit, both in sword sheathes. 

Tesla chuckles, saying, "Haven't seen you outside of the suit in a while, Freddo."

Freddo, the bounty hunter Titan, replies, "Huh? Oh, right, yes. It has been a while since I've been out of it. But it has been even longer since I've seen you without your helmet, Jack."

Jack replies, "Well, we have been chasing Reaper nonstop for the last few weeks. It makes sense why I haven't bothered to take it off."

Jack then unzips the backpack, reaching into it, and pulling out two MREs, or Meal Ready-To-Eats. He tosses one to Freddo, saying, "Here you go, catch."

The MRE hits Freddo's head lightly, getting stuck in his hair. He reaches a hand up to his hair and pulls it out, before sitting down against a tree. He pulls out a water bottle connected to his side, and twists the cap off, before pouring the water into the MRE, allowing the meal to create itself all from water. Jack mimics the same action. Both of them wait a few minutes before their meals are ready. They begin to dive into their meals, while Victor sits off a little ways from them. 

Victor shifts slightly to get in a more comfortable position, which proves difficult due to his arm and legs being stuck because of the EMP like devices. 

Meanwhile, a few miles away, a mysterious woman watches the three of them through a pair of binoculars. She mutters, "Victor, what have you gotten yourself into?"

She moves the binoculars away from her face and places them in a small drawstring backpack. The woman has long red hair with blue highlights, that reaches down to her mid-back. 

The woman takes off sprinting quickly through the foliage of the dense forest until she makes it to the outskirts of the bounty hunter's camp. She reaches a tree and begins to stealthily climb it, to observe the three of them. Quietly, she loves across a branch, hoping to get a better view of them. The woman stays silent, slowly moving towards the edge of the branch. The branch bends against her weight. After a few moments, the branch snaps, causing her to fall. She curses all the way down until she hits the ground with a loud *thud*. 

The bounty hunters hear this, which they both get up. Jack quickly puts on his helmet, before pulling out a sword and a revolver, while Freddo climbs back into his suit, and pulls out his two flaming swords. 

Jack calls out, "Who goes there!?"

The woman scrambles to get up to her feet and hides behind a tree. Freddo then begins filtering through different kinds of vision, before settling on a mixture of heat and thermal vision. He sees the woman hiding behind the tree. 

"Tesla, there's a woman hiding behind there", Freddo says, pointing towards the direction where the woman is hiding. 

Jack says, "Go check it out. I'll guard the prisoner."

Freddo begins sprinting towards the tree where the woman is hiding behind, which makes her let out a yelp of surprise.

"Gotcha, bitch!"

As soon as he reaches her, she disappears in thin air, teleporting away. 

Freddo exclaims, "Tesla! She's gone! Where the hell did she go!?"

Jack asks back, "What do you mean she's gone? Wasn't she right in front of you?"

"Well yeah, but she just got up and vanished in thin air!"

Jack grits his teeth, saying, "This can't be a coincidence. Can it...wait a minute."

He looks towards Victor who has a smirk underneath his skeleton mask. He asks, "How many of you are there that can teleport?"

Victor responds, "Not enough, that's for sure."

The bounty hunter rushes over to him and grabs him by the shoulders forcefully. In a demanding tone, he asks, "Tell me! How many!?"

Victor sighs deeply, relenting, "Only two of us remain. Myself...and one other."

"Who?"

Victor smirks, replying with a mischievous look in his eyes, "My girlfriend."

Suddenly, the red-haired woman then teleports in front of Jack, punching him in the face with a robotic arm, before teleporting a short distance away from him. He begins firing at her with his revolver, which she jumps and dodges each and every bullet, until she finally teleports away from him, appearing behind the knight. Sensing this, Jack swiftly turns around and twirling the revolver in his hand, until he is holding the revolver by the barrel of it. Expecting a hit from her, he pistol-whips the woman in the face. She stumbles backward, groaning in pain. 

Freddo rushes towards her with his swords, but at the last second, she disappears in thin air, teleporting away yet again. 

Freddo yells out, "Dammit! She's dancing around us in circles!"

Jack says, "Don't worry, I've got an idea."

Twisting the revolver yet again, he makes it so that his hand grasps on the handle of it. He pulls out a specially designed EMP grenade and throws it, which suddenly makes the woman curse out, "Shit!"

Her voice is heard from where Victor is still resting up against a tree. Small electrical sparks emit from her robotic arm, which is connected to her right shoulder. She grabs it firmly with her human hand, watching as the teleporting abilities stop working. She looks towards Victor, saying, "Are you alright?"

Victor chuckles deeply, saying, "Better now that you're here."

Suddenly, a revolver click is heard from right beside her head. Turning her head, she sees that Jack has his revolver pointed directly at her.

In a serious tone, he says, "There's nowhere left for you to go. Identify yourself."

The woman sighs deeply saying, "I guess I don't have a choice, do I? Very well. My name is Valerie. I'm a...friend of Victor's."

"Girlfriend, to be precise", Victor interjects. 

Jack asks, "Your name is Victor?"

The wolf faunas says softly, "Yes."

Jack probes on, asking, "Why are you here?"

Valerie chuckles deeply, saying, "Isn't it obvious? I was attempting to free my boyfriend. It seems like that plan went well, eh Victor?"

"If that was your idea of a rescue party, then you were doomed to fail from the start, Valerie."

Jack says, "Irrelevant. You attacked two bounty hunters hired by Atlas personnel, so we're going to have to take you in."

Freddo takes out another circular EMP device and places it on Valerie's robotic arm, which short circuits the arm, causing it to render it immobile. 

Valerie says enthusiastically, "If you say so."

The two bounty hunters remove their weapons from pointing at her and sheath them. Jack then pulls out a tranquilizer gun from the backpack and fires two shots, one at Victor and the other at Valerie, causing them to fall onto the ground, unconscious. Freddo pulls out rope from the backpack and quickly ties up Valerie's arms and legs, to prevent her from escaping if she were to awake. 


	4. Reunion

3rd P.O.V. 

Several hours later, the bounty hunters roam the streets of Mistral, buying supplies. Jack walks up to a vendor selling various types of weaponry and ammunition, which grabs the aforementioned vendor's attention. 

"Good morning to you sir! What may I get for you?"

The bounty hunter places his revolver on the table along with a couple of lien cards, saying, "I need ammo for this."

"Splendid, sir! I will be right back with your order! Feel free to look around at what else we have to offer." The vendor walks to the back of the stand, grabbing the ammunition for Jack's weapon. He looks over the many different weapons, before setting his sights in an automatic rifle. The vendor comes back with a crate full of bullets for the bounty hunter's weapon, setting it in front of him, before finally taking the lien card. 

"Is there anything else that I can get for you, sir?"

Jack nods his head, saying, "Yes. That rifle right there." He gestures towards the rifle, continuing, "How much is it?"

"That particular weapon costs 12,000 lien."

Jack pulls out the required amount of lien for the weapon, setting it down, saying, "I'll take it, along with fifteen magazines for it."

"Very well, sir!" 

The vendor retrieves the automatic rifle and ammunition, giving them to the knight. Jack thanks the vendor, before picking up the revolver and setting it in his holster on his hip. He takes the rifle and slings it on his back on a bandolier, before taking the ammo for the rifle and placing them in the canister with the ammo for his revolver for easier carrying. Picking up his items, he leaves and heads back towards a wooden house on the edge of town. 

* * *

Valerie's eyes open up. She notices the ropes binding her arms and legs. Using her human hand, she reaches towards her back pocket and carefully extracts a pop-up switchblade. Pressing the button on it, she carefully uses it to cut through the ropes binding her arms, followed by cutting the rope binding her legs. Placing the switchblade back into her pocket, she quickly takes off the EMP device on her robotic arm, setting it on the ground and crushing it with her boot. The red-haired woman flexes her robotic hand a few times, before noticing Victor, who lays unconscious in a corner in the living room. Valerie rushes over to where Victor is and removes the electrical device from his arm, allowing his limbs to move from their previous locked state. She lifts him over her shoulder before picking up her drawstring backpack and starts walking towards the door. Just as she goes to open it, the door is slammed open by Freddo, with Jack standing behind them. The three stare at each other for a few seconds, before Valerie bolts past them. Jolted out of their moment, the two bounty hunters chase her. 

Jack takes off flying with his rocket boots while Freddo sprints after them, at a slower pace due to the weight of the mech suit. The ground beneath them shakes slightly every time one of the boots of the suit comes in contact with the pavement. Bystanders watch in awe and fear at the power of Freddo's mechanical suit. 

Valerie continues running for a few blocks, before noticing a building. Trying to shake off the bounty hunters on her tail, she turns right, stopping at a door close to Haven Academy. She kicks it open, sprinting up the stairs with the bounty hunters right behind her. She slams the door open, which interrupts the touching moment of Ruby, Weiss, and Yang hugging each other, with the remnants of team JNPR, Oscar and Qrow standing alongside the walls.

Valerie's face visibly pales, as she says, "Oops. Am I...interrupting something?"

Suddenly the bounty hunters arrive, shoving her into the room, causing her and Victor to crash to the floor. The crash makes Victor wake up, saying, "What's going on?!"

He quickly gets up and grabs Valerie by her robotic arm with his own, a touching moment between the two cyborg adults. Suddenly, Yang's eyes turn glowing red. Pointing her gauntlets towards the two of them, she asks in an angry tone, "Who the hell are you!?"

Victor instantly replies, "I go by Reaper. I'm a vigilante."

Jack says, "A criminal."

"And you are?" Yang gestures towards Jack and Freddo. 

Jack pulls out his scroll, saying, "Jack Jameson, bounty hunter working for Atlas. My colleague here," he points towards Freddo, continuing, "is Freddo Blade, also known as Titan, a bounty hunter from Vacuole." 

Yang looks at the knight's scroll, before lowering her gauntlets. 

Jaune's eyes widen at the similarities of Valerie and Pyrrha. He asks cautiously, "Um are you by chance related to Pyrrha Nikos?"

Valerie turns her head towards him, saying, "No. I am not. I do not even know her. I have however heard what happened to her at the fall of Beacon Academy. It's sad to see her go that way. She was a valiant and noble warrior, a true example of what a Huntress should be. I just happen to look like her. I get that a lot, though."

Ren asks, "You seem to be hiding some things from us. It is written all over your face."

Valerie's voice suddenly drops to a somber tone. "Well, maybe some things are worth keeping from others. Not everyone came from happy backgrounds-"

Victor cuts her off saying, "Valerie, that is enough."

She stops talking, which raises some eyebrows from the others. 

Nora asks, "So Reaper? Valerie? Why are you here?"

Victor stays silent, while Valerie laughs awkwardly, saying, "I...may have tried to escape with Victor away from the bounty hunters. I ran into the closest place I could find to throw them off and well...here we are!"

Jack says flatly, "This doesn't change anything. We're still turning you two in."

Victor suddenly gets defensive, saying in a darkened tone, "So, you believe me to be a criminal? You do not know what I do for a living! I will admit that I have killed people, but I was doing it for a reason. I was protecting those who couldn't protect themselves. For every life I have taken, there are more lives that are saved. And here's a common misconception that the media of Remnant seems to have about me. I don't kill innocent people! I only kill those who actively seek to hurt others!" 

Valerie says, "Victor, calm down!"

"No! You and I both know why Ironwood sent these two after me, Valerie. Not only does he see me as a threat, but he wants my technology. And I'll be damned enough if I'm going to let him have it!"

Jack snorts, saying in a stern tone, "And what is to stop us? You? You and her are unarmed and outnumbered. We are more experienced than you. True, they-", he gestures towards team RWY, JNR, Oscar and Qrow, "might we willing to help us. You have not proved anything to me. Hell, you could be lying for all we know. You haven't proved anything, not a single damn thing!"

Victor's wolf wars lay back in anger. He retorts, "Fine. Don't believe me. You can turn me and my girlfriend into your general. He can take away our technology, but there is no way, in HELL that you're going to learn anything about us or the things that we have been through. You cannot even begin to imagine the agony and suffering that we had to endure."

Still angry, he growls, trying to warn them to back off of him. Valerie takes his human hand in hers, saying softly, "Calm down, love. You're getting yourself worked up over nothing."

The wolf faunas sighs deeply, saying, "Alright."

At this point, Jack motions to Freddo something. Freddo nods and pulls out two pairs of handcuffs, walking over to the two of them, handcuffing their wrists behind their backs. 

"Get moving, punk."

The vigilante remains silent, complying with the order. They begin exiting the house with Freddo behind them. As Jack is about to leave, he says, "Sorry for disturbing you. We will be leaving now." 

He walks out the door, closing it behind him. 

* * *

Later that evening, when the rest of them are asleep, Oscar talks with Qrow. 

Ozpin, taking control over him says, "I believe that those bounty hunters may be helpful to us."

Qrow asks, "Really? And what about the two criminals with 'em?"

"Them too. They're experienced, About the same experience as a huntsman or huntress in training. They'll be coming along as well."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."


	5. Secrets Revealed

3rd P.O.V.

Back at the safe house, Victor paces back and forth, free of the handcuffs. Jack fiddles around with his new rifle, sitting down in a chair. Freddo leans against the wall, eyeing the two fugitives. 

Victor says, "So, what do we do now, Valerie?"

The wolf faunas's girlfriend looks up from her sculpting of small animals out of wood with her switchblade, saying, "I'm not sure. It's probably best if we wait it out." 

Victor's robotic hand clenches into a fist. He slams it down on the table saying, "We don't have time to wait! That's not a luxury that we have!"

Jack looks up, asking, "What's the hurry?"

Victor's ears lay flat, as he says, "That's none of your concern."

"You know, just because we're turning you in, doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."

Valerie points out, "He's got a point, Victor."

He scoffs, saying, "So what? Do you honestly expect me to talk about my past? The pain, the torment, the nightmares? I'm not entirely sure if you two are trustworthy yet, because trust is hard to come by."

Jack replies, "True, but we don;t want to know anything too personal. We just want to get to know you more as a person."

Victor's blue eyes soften a bit, as he relents, saying, "Alright. If we tell you a bit about us, then you have to talk about yourselves."

"That's fair. I'll start."

"Tell me why you were hunting me. Not for Ironwood. Why you chose this job specifically."

"Simple. I needed the money I would receive to help find a cure for my sister's sickness."

Victor's eyes widen a bit, saying, "Oh."

"Now I have a question for you. What were your motives for becoming a criminal? What were your goals?"

"First off, I'm not a criminal. I am using my teleportation abilities to help out those who are unable to protect themselves. I destroy all Grimm and White Fang members who stand in my way."

"Why?"

"Because no one should have to suffer the pain that I had to go through."

Inquisitive of this response, Jack asks, "And that is?"

The wolf faunas's eyes harden a bit, going silent for a few minutes. After a while, he breathes in deeply, and begins speaking. 

"When I was ten, my mother and brother burned inside of a fire that destroyed my home. Three years later, I was kidnapped and experimented on by an insane organization called the Black Scorpions. I won't go into too much detail right now, but I will tell you that the technology you see on Valerie and I now, were created by them. "

The knight's eyes widen in shock from this new information. 

Freddo finally speaks up, asking, "When did you become a criminal?"

"A few years ago. I've been a vigilante for about three years now."

"Three years? Just how old are you?"

"19. I am 19 and Valerie is 18."

Valerie interjects, saying, "Victor, I can speak for myself, you know."

"I know you can, but please understand that I'm just trying to protect you."

The red-haired woman scoffs lightly, standing up to face her boyfriend. 

"I don't need protection. I can handle myself just fine. Besides, I don't have any secrets to hide. Unlike you."

This statement piques Jack's interest. He asks, "What secrets?"

Valerie goes to say something, before getting cut off by Victor, saying, "None of your business."

Valerie cries out, "Just tell them, Victor! We don't have a lot of other options!"

"And what? So they can use my ability against me? Use me as a punching bag? So I can be used as a tool, a mere object rather than a person? No! I refuse to let anyone else take advantage of me again! Those psychopaths used my Semblance for their greedy desires, for dangerous experiments! I don't think no-I know that I can't go through that again!"

Ruby peers through the window, watching the conversation unfold, until she loses her balance. She falls off the ledge and into a bush. Jack hears the sounds of leaves rustling through the open window. He stands up, places his helmet back and says, "This will have to wait. I'll be right back."

He grabs his weapons and walks outside. He notices Ruby sick and slightly dizzy, having fallen into a bush. 

He asks, "How long were you there for?"

Ruby chuckles nervously, saying, "Well, I heard most of the conversation. Something about criminals, secrets and an organization of quote on quote 'psychopaths'."

Jack asks, "So the whole thing?"

"Yep~"

"Why are you here?"

"Well...I overheard my uncle and Oz-Oscar talking about you, Titan, and the criminals. They think that it would benefit both of us if you four were to help us out. Even though we have strength in numbers, we lack experience."

"Well, I don't know exactly what your goals or plans you have are, but if you give me a brief rundown of what that maybe, then I'll consider it."

Ruby sighs, saying, "Very well. My friends, my uncle Qrow and I are here to defend Haven Academy from those who want the relic locked inside of the vault. The Grimm have a master named Salem. She seeks to get all four of the relics for herself. Her associates of hers were responsible for the fall of Beacon. But ultimately, she was the one who planned everything from the start."

"Who is Salem?"

"Salem is the one who created the Grimm. She wants to wipe out the entire human race."

Jack's eyes widen, as he says, "I see no reason why you would lie about that."

Ruby says, "What? You believe me?"

"I do. It would make sense that there would be someone pulling the strings from behind. The Grimm, the fall of Beacon, it's just too much of a coincidence."

"So...does that mean you will join us?"

Jack nods his head, saying, "I will, but I can't say for my partner."

The sound of metal boots walking against the stone is heard from behind the two of them. Freddo says, "I heard everything. You can count me as well."

Ruby jumps up into the air, saying, "Perfect! Would you like to discuss further details over lunch? It's on me."

Jack says, "Sure. I'd be delighted to."

Freddo says, "So shall I."

Ruby notices all of their weaponry and armor. She laughs feebly, saying, "Um, they don't allow weapons here, so you're going to have to leave your armor and weapons here."

Jack says, "Fair enough. That makes sense."

The bounty hunters head back inside. They place their weapons on a table in the corner first. Jack takes off his knight armor, placing them on the table as well. Freddo meanwhile, climbs out of his suit and presses a few buttons on the left gauntlet of it. 

A deep robotic pitch voice comes from the suit, saying, "Sentry mode activated."

Jack says, "Hey, you two! We're going out for a bit. Don't get any funny ideas, or Titan's suit here will make your life a nightmare."

Valerie says, "Understood. Enjoy yourselves!"

Jack nods his head, before turning towards Freddo. They leave the house, locking the door behind them.

Ruby says, "Follow me, you two."

As the trio begin walking down the street to the nearest restaurant, Ruby opens up her scroll and texts a message to Yang, before putting it back in her pocket. 

"We're meeting up with the rest of my team at a local restaurant. I hope that's alright with you two."

Jack says, "That's fine by me."

Freddo nods in acknowledgment. The three continue walking down the streets of Mistral, before finally arriving at their destination. They both go into a booth with a few tables, which is where Yang and Weiss are already seated. 

Yang's eyes at the sight of the two bounty hunters. She mouths the words 'What are they doing here?'. 

Ruby notices this and says, "These two along with the fugitives are joining us on our mission."

Looking skeptical, she asks, "Can we trust them?"

Jack sits down saying, "Relax. I work for Ironwood."

The blonde relaxes slightly. Weiss suddenly asks, "You work for the General? What type of work is it that you do for him?"

Freddo finally sits down next to Jack saying, "We're bounty hunters."

Ruby grabs menus and begins handing them to each of them, saying, "Pick whatever you guys like."

A few minutes later a waiter comes by. She asks, "Hello, what can I get for you today?"

They each order their respective meals before the waiter takes the menus and leaves. Jack stares at Weiss for a long while, before saying, "You're Weiss Schnee, right? I've met your sister before."

Weiss's eyes widen as she asks, "You've met Winter?!"

"Yes, I have. She's...an interesting woman."

A man wearing brown light-weight armor enters the restaurant. He has a black mask that looks to resemble some ancient warrior's helmet, with a red visor. On top of the mask, he wears a black wastelander hat, covering his full face. The mysterious looking man sits down at a table close to the group of five. He looks over a sawn-off double-barrel shotgun and begins reloading shells into it. 

Jack, Freddo and the three members of team RWBY stare at the mysterious masked man, an unsettling feeling washing over them. Through the eyes of the man's mask, he locates his target through the walls and buildings, trying to break into a safe house. The man smirks underneath the mask, before suddenly standing up and sprinting out of the establishment, shotgun in hand. The five of them suddenly get up and bolt out of the store, right on his tail.

* * *

Victor continues pacing back and forth in the safe house, while Valerie sits on one of the plush couches, relaxing. 

Victor asks, "Do you have any ideas on how to get our weapons from Freddo's mech suit?"

Valerie looks up, staring at the mech suit looking around, before replying, "Nope. Not a clue."

A mysterious figure outside of the safe house pulls open his scroll and hacks into the mech suit. He disables the suit's vision and turns the suit offline from sentry mode. The figure walks up to the back door. He quickly picks locks the door before entering the house. Once inside, he notices Victor and Valerie. 

The figure says, "It's been a long time, Victor."

Victor's wolf ears perk up from where the voice is coming from. He says, "That voice. It sounds so familiar."

He turns his head to face the figure. The figure wears a mid sleeved black shirt with a dark blue vest over it, with dark blue jeans and black boots. His right arm is red, and robotic, which connects to his right shoulder. He wears a White Fang Lieutenant mask, but instead of it's normal white and red colors, the mask is black with blue highlights. Grey wolf ears and a gray wolf's tail are visible. On the man's back is a four barreled shotgun and two automatic pistols rest in holsters at his sides. 

Valerie pulls out her switchblade, pointing in at the intruder, saying threateningly, "What business does the White Fang have with Victor?!"

The masked man chuckles deeply, saying, "I was once with them, yes, but not anymore. And to answer your question...I'm Lucas Asher."

Lucas takes off his mask, revealing his face. The wolf faunas has short black hair, similar to Victor's style. The right side of his face is scarred slightly, burned red, and a black eye patch rests over his right eye. He says, "It's me, brother."

In disbelief, Victor exclaims, "You're alive! But how!?"

"It wasn't easy. I was underneath the influence of the Black Scorpions for a long time."

Valerie growls, "Those bastards!"

Victor's eyes suddenly narrow, as he asks, "You joined the White Fang! Why!?"

Lucas sighs deeply, saying, "I joined the White Fang because after I escaped from the Black Scorpions, I was hurt and alone, with no one to turn to. I had wanted a purpose, a way to push past through the suffering of them. It wasn't too long after that that I met Adam Tauras, the leader of the White Fang. He took me underneath his wing. He promised me a reason to keep fighting if I joined him. Without hesitation, I accepted. I found pleasure in killing those who I thought were guilty, only to find out that most of those people that I killed were innocents. I was...no, I am no better than those damn scientists. I soon realized that Adam was just using me for his benefit. I was nothing but a tool, an asset to him. I did plan on leaving, but there was one person who stopped me from doing so. The love of my life, Marceline Guerra. She was everything that I could have ever wanted. But during a mission, she was killed. The only one I cared for and loved for was gone. I lost my faith in the White Fang, and not too long after, I left them. They will promise you greatness but in the end, they will only use you. In their eyes, lives are expendable. They do not care about the well beings of their members. They never did and they never will."

* * *

The masked man continues sprinting down the street, heading in the direction of the safehouse. The bounty hunters and the three members of team RWBY attempt to catch up to him, but are no match for his speed. Jack then uses his Semblance, which summons electricity into his hands. He fires a bolt of electricity at the masked man, which disorients him completely. He staggers forward and collapses on the ground, groaning in the process. 

The five walk over to him and strip him of his weapons. Jack then takes off the stranger's mat and mask, which reveals a man with short black hair. A black eyepatch crosses over his right eye. The left side of his face us pure black, as the flesh was burned it a long time ago. His remaining eye is a golden yellow color, which pierces into the green eyes of Jack. 

The man chuckles deeply, saying in a masculine tone, "Well, well, well. I didn't expect a bounty hunter from Atlas to be the one who would take me down."

Jack stiffens, asking, "How do you know that?"

"Because not long ago, I worked for Atlas, until they decided to close their borders. I read your file, bucko. Telsa, right? Or should I call you Jack?"

Jack retorts back, "That doesn't explain who you are, or who you're after."

The raven-haired man stands up, saying, "That's simple. I go by the name Scorch and I'm after-"

Freddo says, "No, your real name, punk."

"Very well, Freddo. The name's Simon and I'm after a rouge White Fang lieutenant codenamed Wolf. Atlas doesn't know anything about who he really is or where he's from, but there are countless reports of Atlas personnel slaughtered by him."

Ruby asks, "Wh-what? How many people are we talking about?"

"At least fifty K.I.As on record but there are several more that have been unconfirmed if they were by him or not."

Qrow suddenly appears out of thin air, asking, "What's going on here?"

Jack explains the situation to him, which makes the huntsman turn to Simon, asking, "So, what was it exactly that you did while working for Atlas?"

Simon replies, "I was a mercenary that worked directly underneath General Ironwood. But enough about me, I came here for a job and I intend to finish it!"

Jack asks, "What do you know of this Wolf person?"

"Not much other than what is publically available."

"Why is he here?"

"I don't know that either."

Jack sighs deeply, asking, "Then do you know where he is?"

Simon nods his head, saying, "Yes. He is in a safe house on the outskirts of Mistral."

Jack hands back Simon's gear back, except for his shotgun, which prompts him to ask, "What about my shotgun?"

Jack says, "Yeah, I need to borrow this."

"Fine. Here, use this for now." He hands his combat axe to Freddo. 

Freddo takes it, saying, "Thanks."

Qrow says, "Ruby, you Weiss and Yang head back to the house."

Ruby says, "Alright. Catch up with you later, Jack?"

Jack nods his head saying, "Definitely. See ya later."

The three members of Team RWBY leave, heading back to their house. 


	6. Who To Trust

3rd P.O.V. 

Victor asks says, "I don't understand Lucas. Why haven't you come to visit me if you've been alive this whole time?"

Lucas replies, "Because I was afraid. Afraid that you wouldn't believe me if I said that I'm the same brother you had when we were kids."

"Then why are you here? Why do you choose now, out of all times to visit?"

Lucas takes off his eyepatch, revealing his right eye. His right eye is black with two light blue rings, one inner and one outer. Three small circles the same color as the rings are placed individually in a triangular motion on the outer ring. The color of his cybernetic eye turns green, while his human eye remains blue. He stares into Victor's eyes and he says in a somber tone, "Because this will be the first and the last time that we will see each other Victor."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm going to turn myself into Ironwood."

Before Victor can say anything, the front door is kicked open. Simon, Freddo, Jack, and Qrow all burst in. Pointing the shotgun directly at Lucas's head, Jack says angrily, "Worthless scum!"

Simon's eye widens, as he asks, "Lucas? Lucas Asher?"

Lucas replies, "Simon. What are you doing here?"

Still, with his finger on the trigger, Jack asks Simon, "Wait, you know him?"

Simon nods, saying, "I'm Lucas's uncle."

Jack says, "So that's your name. Lucas Asher."

Victor then jumps in front of Lucas, shielding him from the shotgun, saying, "if you want to get to my brother, you're going to have to get through me!"

Jack asks, "Wait...you two are brothers?"

Valerie nods, saying, "Yes. Victor and Lucas are brothers. Lucas is the brother that Victor thought was dead. Apparently not."

Simon laughs saying, "Victor! My nephew! How are you doing? It's been so long since I've seen you and your brother! So wait...Lucas...you're a part of the White Fang and are responsible for the deaths of Atlas military soldiers. And you, Victor...you've become a vigilante, and are responsible for the countless deaths of Grimm and White Fang members?" 

Simultaneously, the brothers say, "Yes." 

Simon chuckles, saying, "Well this is certainly a surprise."

Breaking out the touching family reunion, Lucas pushes Victor out of the way, which Jack then threateningly says, "Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you."

Lucas looks up at Jack, and his cybernetic eye turns orange. He takes off his weapons and drops them on the ground in front of him, kicking them with his boot which they slide over to Jack. 

Confused, Jack says, "I don't understand. No member of the White Fang would do this."

Lucas says sadly, "That's because I left them a long time ago."

Jack grits his teeth, and says, "That still doesn't explain your actions. You're responsible for the countless deaths of innocent people. Explain yourself."

Lucas sighs deeply, saying, "This may be hard to believe, but I honestly did not know they were innocent. I was...told by my superiors that they were guilty and yet I killed them. I take full responsibility for my crimes. Punish me however you see fit."

Jack says, "Freddo, cuff him."

Freddo pulls out a pair of handcuffs and walks over to Lucas, handcuffing his hands. 

Jack then lowers the shotgun, handing it over to Simon. Freddo then hands back Simon's combat axe. Simon takes both, and puts on his mask and hat, saying, "Well, I best be off. I got another assignment back at Atlas that needs my attention. It was nice seeing you boys again. Take care, Victor, Lucas." 

He leaves the house, taking off running. 

Jack sighs deeply, and says to Qrow, "So, we've decided that we'll be joining your cause to fight Salem."

Qrow asks, "Who told you about her?"

"Ruby did. She told me that you and a boy named Oscar were discussing something like that?"

"Oh. yeah, we were. I'm glad that you've decided to join."

"Yes. So, since we're joining forces, it would be best if Freddo and I transferred our personal belongings along with the fugitives' over to your place. Is that alright?"

"Yes, absolutely. Best to have us all in one place."

Freddo resets his mech suit and climbs back inside it. He picks up his flame swords, holstering them. Jack then puts on his knight armor, before picking up his weapons and arming himself. Jack then asks Qrow, "Can you grab the criminals' weapons? My hands are full at the moment."

"Yep, sure."

Qrow goes over and picks up Victor's silver revolver, Valerie's revolver with two cylinders, Lucas's two automatic pistols and his quadruple barrelled shotgun. Valerie picks up the drawstring bag and slings it over her shoulder. 

The mech suit's left-hand morphs into a minigun. Qrow begins walking out first, which then Freddo pushes the minigun towards Lucas, saying, "Get moving, punk." 

Lucas complies with the order, walking out the front door behind Qrow, but in front of Freddo. Victor and Valerie follow after him followed by lastly, Jack. The knight locks the door behind him, all five following where Qrow is leading them. 

The group walk for several minutes before Qrow leads them close towards Haven Academy, at the house where the rest of the main cast are located. Qrow opens the door, and the six of them file in, with Jack closing the door behind them. They head into the living room, where several couches and tables are. 

Qrow asks, "Where do you want me to put these weapons?"

Jack points towards a medium-sized table, saying, "Over there."

Qrow walks over there and places Victor's, Valerie's, and Lucas's weapons on the table. Valerie goes to place the string bag on the table, but a hand stops her from doing so. Victor whispers in her ear, "Hold onto the backpack. Please."

"Sure, my love."

Valerie then walks over to one of the couches, sitting down on it. She pats the seat next to her, motioning for Victor to sit next to her. He walks over to her and sits down next to her. 

By this point, Ruby, Yang, Weiss, Jaune, Ren, and Nora stare at the bounty hunters and three wanted criminals. 

Jaune asks, "Um, Ruby? What are they doing back here?"

Qrow pulls out his flask full of whiskey and takes a gulp of it, before closing it and setting it back in his shirt pocket. He says, "These two gentlemen here are moving in because they're helping us out on our mission."

Jaune says, "Oh. And I see that they brought these two who broke into the house. However, who is-"

Nora exclaims, "Who is this that cutie over there!?" She points towards Lucas. 

Lucas looks around the living room, taking in his surroundings. He then walks over to where Victor and Valerie are and sits down on the ground in front of them. Freddo walks over to where the weapons pile is and climbs out of his suit. Once out, he sets his suit to sentry mode, then walks over to another couch, sitting down on it. Jack takes off his helmet and sets in on an end table, before sitting down next to Titan. 

The three members of Team RWBY and the remaining members of Team JNPR sit down on various couches and chairs in the living room. Oscar walks in, while Qrow looks at them all. 

Qrow says, "So, let's talk. Jack and Freddo here have accepted our request in joining us to beat Salem."

Jack says, "If she is as powerful as you say she is, then we need an army."

Qrow says, "Well, we don't have one."

"That makes things harder."

Qrow asks, "I do want to know something though. What do we do about them?" 

He gestures towards Victor, Valerie, and Lucas. 

"I plan on taking the brothers to Atlas, but the woman goes."

Valerie asks, "Really? Okay then."

Ruby says, "You didn't answer Nora's question. Who's the new guy?"

Lucas looks up, finally speaking. 

"I'm Lucas Asher."

Victor clarifies, "Lucas is my younger brother who I thought was dead. Seems I was wrong, huh?" 

He ruffles his hand through Lucas's hair in an affectionate manner. Lucas nods, chuckling slightly. 

"It takes more than that to kill me, brother. I have always been one to never back down and give in."

Jack says, "That's not important. Time is running out for me. There is n way we can go to Atlas and come back in time to help you."

Qrow asks, "What do you mean?"

"My sister, Alex Jameson. She has an unknown illness that is causing her severe hallucinations. She is slowly going insane and I don't know how much longer she can last. I need to turn in Victor for the money, so I can try to find a cure for her."

Lucas's eyes widen in shock. He says, "I know what your sister's sickness is."

"How?"

"Because it was created by the same group of scientists that experimented on Victor, Valerie, and I: the Black Scorpions."

"How did we not know of this group?"

Victor then says, "Because the Black Scorpions were careful in their research and experiments. They used brainwashing methods to cover their tracks. They were hidden far away from any of the four kingdoms."

"If that's the case, is there a cure?"

Lucas says, "Yes, there is a cure, and I know where to find it."

Jack gets up and walks straight up to Lucas, asking, "Where?"

"In one of the inoperable locations of the Black Scorpions. I also know where the coordinates are."

"Where are they and how do I get there?"

"On my arm. Do you see that cylindrical device strapped to my belt? Grab it for me, please?"

Jack looks for the device and quickly finds it. He retrieves it, asking, "What is this?"

"This is a teleporter. It will allow you to teleport anywhere you desire in the blink of an eye. Just imagine where you want to go, or if you don't know the place, then type in the coordinates of the place. These are the coordinates for the place you're needing to go."

Lucas lists a string of numbers and letters, which Jack inputs into the teleporter. 

"There. Just press the red button when you're ready."

Jack says, "I need to take a few people with me."

Ruby says, "Ooh! My team can go with you!"

Jack says, "Alright then. You three, come with me."

* * *

Several minutes later, the four of them teleport to the location of the Black Scorpions. Jack walks in the front door followed by Ruby, Weiss, and Yang. When they enter, they notice how damaged the place is. Dead bodies of scientists are strewn everywhere with limbs torn off and blood splattered on the floors and walls. 

Ruby asks, "What...what happened here? Who could have done this?"

Weiss shivers, saying, "What could these people have done to deserve such a thing?"

Jack replies, "What I've been told by Victor is that these people experimented on people. It's cruel."

He points his rifle around the room, searching for any enemies, only finding none. The four enter deep into the facility until they reach a room where a few bottles filled with blue liquid. 

Yang asks, "Did Lucas tell us what the cure looks like?"

Jack replies, "No, but I assume it's labeled."

He picks up one of the bottles of blue liquids, seeing a label that reads, 'Stranger's Parasite Cure.' Turning it around, he sees another label that reads that it cures hallucinations for victims injected with the Stranger's Parasite virus. 

Jack says, "I found it. Let's go."

The four then teleport to Ironwood's office, which Jack places the cure on the desk.

Ruby asks, "Why are we here? Are we..."

"This is General Ironwood's office. I'm leaving this as well as a message." He places a folded handwritten note on his desk right beside the cure. They then teleport back to the house, where the rest of the group reside at.

* * *

Qrow says, "I just received a call from Leo."

Jack asks, "Who is that?"

"The headmaster of Haven Academy."

"What was the call about?"

"He wants us to meet him in his office. Freddo, Jack. Get your weapons. We're going in."


	7. The More The Merrier

3rd P.O.V. 

An hour later, a set of futuristic knight armor is sent through a teleporter to where Jack is. He walks outside to see the new suit, with a note attached signed by Ironwood. 

_'The credits for the bounty on Victor Asher have been transferred into yours and Freddo Blade's bank accounts. I figured that you needed an upgrade from your current armor, so I had this custom armor built for you. Take this as a personal gift from me, free of charge, for helping me out in these trying times. -Ironwood'_

Jack then takes the new set of armor and brings it inside the house. He strips himself of his old armor and then gets dressed in his new armor. The new knight armor is white with blue streaks in it, a mixture of both medieval armor and modern technology.

Walking back outside, Ruby notices the new set of armor Jack is wearing. 

"How did that get here?"

Jack explains that Lucas explained to him how to make a teleporter and that he had left a note to Ironwood about how to build one. 

* * *

Several hours later, the three members of Team RWBY, Team JNR, Oscar, Qrow, Freddo and Jack begin making their way to Lionheart's office. When they arrive there, Professor Lionheart greets them, saying, "Why hello thank you for coming. There seems to be more of you than last time."

Qrow says, "Eh, you know what they say, 'the more, the merrier.' So, what's going on with the council?"

Jack and Freddo watches at Lionheart proceeds to ask why they brought their weapons, with Qrow responding that they were huntsmen. Freddo then points towards a raven that watches them from afar, which then Yang asks, "Mom?"

Qrow then fires at the raven, which the bird flies behind Lionheart, turning into Raven at the last second. 

She says, "If you're going to shoot me, shoot me. That was insulting."

Jack asks, "Who is that?"

Yang says, "My mother, Raven. Uncle Qrow's sister."

As if on cue, Qrow asks, "What are you doing here!?"

"I could ask you the same thing. You've been scheming, little brother. Planning to attack your own sister."

"Leo...what have you done?!"

Lionheart stutters, saying, "I-I", but Raven continues. 

"Leo did what any sane person would do in his position; he looked at all the information he had in front of him; assessed the situation, and made a choice. And it seems you all have too."

Jack cocks back his rifle, saying, "We're doing what is right. You're doing what isn't."

Qrow says, "You have the Spring Maiden."

"I do."

"Then hand her over and lets work together! We can beat Salem!"

Raven interjects saying, "All that time spent spying for Ozpin and you still have no idea what you're dealing with. There is no beating Salem!"

Jack goes to say something, but Ruby begins speaking. 

"You're wrong. We've done things that most people would call impossible, and I know the only reason we were able to do it is because we didn't do it alone! We had people to teach us, people to help us; we had each other. Work with us. At least I know we'll have a better chance if we try together. Please!" 

She outstretches her hand as if asking for Raven to take it. A moment of silence ensues while Raven stares at it, before hardening her stare. 

"You sound just like your mother."

Suddenly, Raven pulls out her sword and a red portal appears, which a fireball flies out of and hits Ruby. Cinder walks out of the portal saying, "Hello, boys and girls.", with Vernall, Emerald, and Mercury behind her. 

Jack places his rifle on his back, before taking out his sword. 

Ruby says, "Cinder."

Mercury says, "C'mon guys, is that any way to greet your old friends?"

Qrow says, "Everybody stay calm."

Suddenly, the doors open behind them, with Hazel walking in, closing the doors behind him. 

"The White Fang is prepping demolition and securing the school grounds. No one's getting in and no one's getting out."

Weiss asks, "This was all just a trap?"

Ren replies, "It appears so."

Qrow says, "Raven, tell me, how long have you been with them?"

Cinder says, "Aww, don't take it personally little bird. Your sister was a recent addition. The lion on the other hand...entrance into the Vytal Festival was a real treat; but Leonardo's been sending Salem all sorts of information for a very, very long time. Isn't that right, Professor?"

Lionheart says, "Stop it."

Qrow says, "It was you. You sit on the Mistral Council. You had information on every huntsman and huntress in the kingdom, and you gave it all to her. I couldn't find any of them, because you let her kill them!" 

Cinder says, "Aww now, don't beat yourself up about it, Lionheart. I'm sure Tyrian and Hazel would've found them on their own eventually."

Jaune cries out, "What is wrong with you? How can you be so broken inside, to take so many lives and then come here and rub it in our faces like it's something to be proud of? All with that damn smile on your face!"

The gang ready their weapons, which Qrow says, "Everybody stay calm!"

"I'm gonna make you pay for what you did! Do you hear me!? Well!? Say something!"

Cinder pauses for a moment, before asking, "Who are you again?"

Jaune's eyes widen, which then he takes out his sword and charges at Cinder. She summons her sword and blocks it. 

Ruby says, "Jaune!" and pulls out her scythe. She charges up to where the battle is, but is blocked by Emerald. 

"You're not getting near her."

Yang sees Jaune and Cinder fighting, which she takes off running, only to get blocked by Mercury. 

"Hey there blondie. I'm thinking you owe me an apology for my leg, don't you think?"

Yang propels herself forwards with her shotgun gauntlets until a loud *thud* sound is heard and felt from everyone. 

Freddo begins sprinting in his mech suit, charging at Mercury yelling, "She doesn't owe you punks anything!"

Qrow charges at Raven with his sword scythe, which she blocks it with her own. While their weapons clash between one another, Qrow says, "Running away was one thing, but this, you've crossed the line!"

Raven retorts back, "Sorry brother. Sometimes family disappoints you like that."

"We're not family anymore."

Raven snarkily asks, "Were we ever?"

"I thought so, but I guess I was wrong." 

The two siblings get into a fight with their weapons, while Jaune continues his battle with Cinder. 

Vernal fights Weiss with her weapons as Ren and Nora prepare to fight Hazel. 

Jack helps out Ruby by using his more improved rocket boots to fly over to where she's fighting Emerald. 

Due to the voice modulator in his helmet, Jack says in a mechanical tone, "You are wrong if you believe that what you're doing is right."

He charges up tp Emerald, who fires her guns at him relentlessly. His armor deflects them without suffering a scratch. Suddenly, inside the helmet, Jack's green eyes turn a glowing blue color. Using his Semblance, he summons electricity in his hands. He creates a blue sword out of electricity in his left hand. 

He says menacingly, "You have chosen the wrong choice. Allow me to persuade you!" 

Emerald's eyes widen in fear, but then narrow in anger. She begins sprinting up to him. Jack places his regular sword on his back and summons a ball of electricity in his right hand. He fires a barrage of lightning at her, electrocuting the green-haired woman in the process. 

Meanwhile, Freddo continuously blocks each one of Mercury's kicks with his fists of his suit, but an advantage the grey-haired man has is speed, while Freddo's advantage is strength. 

Freddo screams, "Leave her alone! She has done nothing wrong ton you! And if you don't...then I will force you too!"

Vernall and Weiss continue to battle it out. Weiss creates an ice wall to separate herself from Vernal and attempts to use her Semblance to summon her ice knight. However, when the ice knight starts to climb up, it is dissolved by lasers firing from Vernal's weapons. Vernal then throws one of her weapons at the heiress's face, which hits it's intended target, knocking Weiss backward. Like a boomerang, it whirls through the air and back to Vernal, who catches it in her hand. 

She sneers, "Don't think I'm going to let you take the easy way out."

Jaune gets knocked backward by Cinder, who talks gleefully to him. 

"I'm starting to remember you. You're the dense one that can't tell when he's out of his league."

The two clash once again, which Ruby turns to look over to. She is then interrupted by Emerald firing her pistols at her, which makes Ruby block them with her scythe. 

Ruby asks, "Why are you doing this!? Salem's-"

Emerald interrupts her, saying, "I don't care about Salem! But I owe Cinder everything! You want to fight her that bad? Be my guest."

A wall of fire suddenly is created and an illusion of Cinder charges at Ruby, but disappears when it gets close to her. Emerald charges at her, which causes Ruby to fire her scythe. 

Weiss continues to jump around the room, dodging Vernal's bullet before attempting to use her Semblance again. But Vernal gets close to her and fires her laser guns at her which makes Weiss cry out in pain. 

Jaune looks over to her, which Cinder takes notice of. 

"Are you going to let her die too?"

Tears stream down Jaune's face, as she yells, "Stop messing with me!"

Cinder responds with, "If that's what you want.", before using her power to turn her sword into flames. She and Jaune charge at each other, which Ruby sees with wide eyes. 

She screams, "NO!", as she uses the power of her silver eyes to dissolve Cinder's sword and stop her powers momentarily. 

Jaune then swings his sword towards where her mask and hair covers her face, barely making an indent in the mask, before falling to the ground. Cinder gets up and a firey smoke emits out of her remaining eye. She walks up to him and steps on him, placing a heel onto his stomach, causing him to grunt in pain. 

She says angrily, "Did you think you actually had a chance against me!? You!?"

Jaune reaches out to grab his sword, while she continues. 

"You're just a failure with a death wish."

Jaune responds by saying, "If I die buying them time, then it's worth it. They're the ones who matter."

Cinder then smirks saying, "You think so?"

She looks over as Weiss crashes into the ground as if she was thrown by someone. She gets up into a sitting position, tired and drained of energy and Aura. 

Cinder then summons a spear made out of fire, and walks with it, preparing to throw it. 

Jaune screams, "NO!" as she throws it, which lands into Weiss's side, causing her to gasp. 

Everyone looks to stare at her as the spear dissolves into dust. 


	8. Stronger Together

Jaune sprints up to Weiss, to which everybody stares at. Oscar, who is upstairs stares at him, and then an unconscious Ruby. He then hits Lionheart with his cane, which sends the professor tumbling down the stairs. 

He goes to where Ruby is and says, "Rubu, get up! Get up! We need you!"

When Ruby starts to shift, Oscar says, "Ruby! You-"

He's cut off by Hazel screaming across the room, "Ozpin! You thought you could hide from me!?"

Hazel proceeds to rip off various parts of his coat off, leaving him in a black undershirt. He pulls out four Dust crystals, two in each hand, out of two small knapsacks attached to both of his sides. 

Hazel screams, "You'll pay for what you did! You'll die over and over again!"

He then injects them directly into his arms, giving him raw power. He then screams in a pained, almost demonic tone, before charging at Oscar. 

Cinder then says, "Leo! Open the path to the vault!"

Lionheart proceeds to sprint towards a statue, and places a small pocket watch into it, activating the entrance to the vault of the Spring Maiden. 

Yang looks around at Weiss and Ruby, to which Nora responds by saying, "Stop them! We've got your team covered!"

Yang gets ready to bolt, but is blocked by Emerald and Mercury. 

"You wanna get to them? You're going to have to get through all of us."

Emerald proceeds to create illusions of Mercury standing all around Yang. However, Freddo rushes in, swinging his flame swords at them, causing the real Mercury to move out of the way, and causing Emerald to halt her Semblance. 

Jaune says, "Ren, talk to me!"

Ren says, "This is bad."

"No, no, no, no, not again! Weiss, c'mon, please!"

Jack stays with Ruby, which he notices Hazel beating the shit out of Oscar. 

Ren says, "She's hardly breathing. I-I don't know what we can do."

Jaune cries out, "NO, it wasn't supposed to be like this! Please! We can't lose anyone else!"

Suddenly, white strings of energy emit off of Weiss, which she lets out a large breath. 

Hazel continues attacking Oscar, who Ozpin is now in control of. 

Weiss continues to breathe, as Jaune asks, "Hah. Wha-what's happening?"

Ruby cries out, "Weiss!"

She runs over to where the heiress is and asks, "What happened!? What's going on!?"

Ren says, "I think she's going to be okay! She seems to be stabilizing!"

Ruby says, "Whatever you're doing, don't stop!"

Jaune says, "I won't."

"Good. Oscar needs help."

Ren says, "I'm on it."

"Jaune and Weiss still need cover!"

Nora backs up, holding her hammer saying, "No one's gonna touch 'em!"

Ruby says, "Okay! Make it happen RNJR!"

She quickly rejoins where Yang is and backs her up with her scythe. 

Yang says, "Thanks, sis. You okay?"

"No. I'm angry."

Yang and Ruby propel themselves forward at Mercury and Emerald. Mercury disarms Ruby, taunting her, "Uh-oh, what're you gonna do now?" She jumps, headbutting him, before picking up her scythe. 

"Whatever it takes for you to shut up."

Nora asks, "You guys doing okay?"

Jaune says, "I-I think so. She's coming to. I just wish this would go faster."

"How about you don't complain and just be thankful you unlocked your Semblance when you did."

"My Semblance?"

"How else do you think you're healing her, dummy?"

"No. I don't think I'm healing her. Our Aura heals our bodies. It feels, it feels more like I'm using my Aura to amplify hers."

Nora asks, "Wait, aren't you worried about running out?"

"Pyrrha once told me that I've got a lot of it. I still believe her."

Weiss's eyes open up as she asks, "Jaune?"

Nora watches in horror as Hazel shoots a bolt of electricity at Ren, which makes him scream in pain. 

Nora cries out, "Ren!"

Jaune says, "Go! I've got her!"

Weiss asks, "Jaune, what's happening?"

"You took a heavy hit. You need to stay with me while the others fight."

"That's...annoying."

Jaune sighs, saying, "Good to have you back Weiss."

Qrow is then thrown into a pillar as Oscar blocks balls of energy from Hazel and Lionheart. 

Hazel growls, "Hiding behind the face of a child? A monster like you must be stopped!"

Nora screams, charging t him from her hammer from the side, which Hazel catches, and electrocutes her with electricity in her head. 

"How many more children must die for you!?"

Nora stands up, absorbing the electricity with her Semblance, and throws him into a wooden pillar. 

Jack charges at Mercury and fires a bolt of electricity at him, while Freddo blocks Emerald's bullets with his flame swords. The two then turn around as they watch Hazel crashing out of the building and into the courtyard. Suddenly sounds of bleeps, like those of police sirens are heard. Everyone stops fighting momentarily as the lights flash through the windows. 

Jack asks, "What's that?"

Freddo responds, "It's the police."

Jack smirks underneath the helmet, saying, "Good."

Weiss asks, "What's happening?"

Jaune says, "I'm not sure. How are you feeling?"

Weiss gets up, saying, "Better. Much better. Keep it up."

She then uses her Semblance to summon a Rapier Wasp Grimm. The Grimm uses its stinger to pierce through Hazel, bringing him back inside of the room. 

Suddenly, Weiss's, Ruby's and Yang's heads turn as they see Blake standing at the exploded part of the building. 

Blake asks, "Yang?"

Ruby then points behind them, saying, "Yang! Go!"

Yang then turns around and takes off running, as Emerald says, "No!" Mercury grips her robotic arm, but Yang detaches it, allowing her to continue sprinting towards the vault. Emerald and Mercury try to catch up to her but are blocked by a wall of ice, created by Weiss. Ruby nods to Blake, which she nods back and sprints back outside. 

While Weiss and Hazel fight, Jaune asks, "You guys okay?"

Ren coughs, saying weakly, "Surviving."

Nora says, "I don't know how that big guy's still standing. He recharges his Aura faster than anyone I've ever seen."

Qrow comes flying in his crow form, transforming into his human form, saying, "He's sheer willpower."

Ozpin says, "We just need to get him to his limit."

Weiss uses her Grimm to fire ice at Lionheart, who fires a fire blast at it. Combined with a blast from Hazel, the Grimm disintegrates entirely. Blake suddenly jumps out of seemingly nowhere and lands next to Ruby and Weiss. 

Blake asks, "Are you guys hurt?"

Weiss says, "No! I just remember you being more of the quiet one."

Blake says, "Not today."

Weiss asks, "Alright. What's the plan, Ruby?"

Ruby fires a bullet at Lionheart with her scythe, which makes him take off running into his office. 

Mercury says, "You gotta be kidding me."

Hazel lets out a scream of frustration. 

Ruby says, "Checkmate!" 

Weiss and Blake together do their combo move on Hazel. When everyone is exhausted, Ruby says, "That's enough! Just give up!"

Mercury slams his fist on the ground, as Emerald says, "It's not over! Cinder will come back! She'll have the relic and she'll stop all of you! She won't let us down."

Suddenly, Yang comes out from the elevator from the vault, carrying the lamp in her hand. 

Everyone stares at her, which Ruby says calmly, "Yang."

Emerald falls onto her knees, breathing hard, to which Mercury says, "Emerald, get up, we need to go. Emerald!"

Emerald begins hyperventilating, before screaming. The whole room turns black, illuminated with red lights. An illusion of Salem comes up from the ground, with twisted, unnatural fingers, and lets out a horrifying scream. 

Ruby shakes in fear, looks over to see the others in similar emotions and stances. 

Blake asks, "What was that!?"

Ozpin says, "An illusion, but an accurate one. That was Salem."

Blake sighs, as her family and Sun run in and hug her. 

Khali says, "The police rounded up the remaining White Fang members. Haven is safe."

Ghira says, "Unfortunately it appears that Adam escaped."

Illia comes in, saying, "It's okay. He was the only one to escape tonight. Those in the White Fang that followed him won't support a leader that abandons his people. He won't have their help after this. He'll have no one at all. And the White Fang will be left divided."

Ghira says, "We've been fighting amongst ourselves for too long. Perhaps its time for a new brotherhood, a new family for faunas truly working together towards a new world."

Khali says, "They'll need a new leader."

Blake walks over to where Ruby and Weiss are, while Yang gives the relic to Qrow. Ruby falls, exhausted, while Weiss cries, "Ruby! Are you okay?"

Ruby says, "I feel like I should be asking you guys. So Blake, what are you doing here?"

Blake says, "I was going to ask you three the same thing."

Ruby says, "That's a long story."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere."

"That's all that matters, That we're all together. Right?"

Yang says, "Yeah."

Weiss outstretches her arm, as the four members of Team RWBY hug each other in a circle, finally reunited with each other. 

Jack says, "I hate to break up your reunion, but we need to get back to the house."

Blake asks, "Who are you?"

"That is a long story."


	9. Unveiled Truths

3rd P.O.V. 

About an hour later, Yang slams the door open, grabbing the attention of Valerie and Victor. 

Valerie says, "Welcome back!"

Tiredly, Victor says, "Hey."

Lucas, who is free of his handcuffs stares at his White Fang mask in his hands, deep in thought. 

As the others stumble through the door, Jack pulls out his rifle, and points it at Lucas asking, "How did you break out of your handcuffs?"

Lucas numbly looks up at Jack, saying, "I broke free of them. I have more strength than you give me credit for." He gestures towards the bent and broken handcuffs lying on the floor. 

Blake's eyes widen as she asks, "Lucas? Lucas Asher?"

Lucas looks up from staring at his mask, saying, "Blake Belladonna. What a pleasant surprise."

Yang grits her teeth saying, "You two know each other?"

Lucas says, "Of course. How could I not know Adam's right-hand woman?"

Blake says, "Enough of that. Why are you here now? Why weren't you out there, with Adam?"

Lucas's eyes widen, as he asks, "Adam was here? In Mistral?"

"Yes. You didn't know?"

The sound of a shotgun cocking is heard. Yang points her gauntlets at him, saying furiously, "How do you know Adam!?"

"Who doesn't? And why should you care?"

"Because he was the one who cut off my arm."

Lucas laughs slightly, saying, "Well, that's Adam for ya. But to answer your question, I was a part of the White Fang. Well used to be anyway."

He pulls up the mask, setting it on the table next to him. 

Blake asks, "You left them? Since when?"

"Since Marceline was killed on that suicide mission."

Lucas's robotic eye flashes a dark blue, as he says, "I watched her die, Blake! I watched as she was ripped from me! Did that bastard care? No! What was it that he said to me? 'It was a necessary sacrifice'. Adam only uses those for his own selfish gain. He is an animal that must be stopped. I should have been the one to kill him, if only I'd known he was there sooner."

Sun says, "He ran off into the woods. The White Fang is no more."

His robotic eye changes to green, before sitting back down on the couch, saying emotionlessly, "I see."

Blake says, "She was the only exception. She was human."

Shocked at this new revelation, Jack's eyes narrow. Lucas goes stiff for a minute before standing up to face Blake. A cold hard glare is spread across his face, his robotic eye now red. 

"You don't have a say in this, cat. Don't ever say anything about her like that ever again. You did not know her the way I did. And you never will."

Jack says, "It doesn't matter. She was scum."

Lucas finally loses it. He charges at Jack, punching his helmet off of his face, only to be met with a sword piercing through his stomach. The sword is pulled out instantly, while Lucas falls onto his knees, clutching his wound. 

Freddo says, "This isn't right, Jack!"

"Yes, it is! He's White Fang scum! We KILL members of the White Fang!"

"Not anymore we don't! Listen to yourself, man!"

"He's not worth the trouble bringing him in alive. It would be easier to kill him now and to collect our bounty."

Ruby says, "Stop this! We've already seen enough violence as it is!"

Lucas gets up, while clutching his robotic hand over his stab wound, and walks over to the kitchen. Laughing weakly, he says, "I have seen more hells than your pathetic feeble minds can barely comprehend. You think that Salem is a monster? No. She is nowhere near as bad as those who walk in this world. Humans. Faunas. Both at each other's throats, yet both equally evil. Humans and faunas are the real monsters. Some are good, yes that is true. But there are those that are not. Some of them deserve death. But death would be a merciful fate. No, they deserve to be condemned and to be tortured; to feel the anguish and agony that I felt; to face the pain and suffering that I faced. Let their deeds and the screams of those they have tortured haunt them for the rest of their miserable lives! This is nothing compared to what I faced then. And one day, I will make them pay for messing with me. And I won't be alone. They will suffer at the hands of those who they've tormented and live to tell the tale. They'll suffer at the hands of my brother, at the hands of my brother's girlfriend, and at the hands of me! That is a promise."

Jack asks, "How are you going to do that inside of a cell?"

Qrow says, "Enough! Look, we're all very tired and exhausted. What we need is sleep. Someone patch him up."

"I ain't doing it."

Valerie says, "I've got it! I have medical experience."

Qrow says, "Good. The rest of you get to bed. I'll stay down here and keep an eye on you three." 

The bounty hunters take off/get out of their armors and place them in a corner where the weapons are. Freddo sets his suit to sentry mode, before heading upstairs. Jack and Freddo go into one bedroom, while Team RWBY and Jaune, Ren and Nora take two other bedrooms respectively. 

Valerie pulls out a medkit out from underneath the kitchen sink and starts patching up Lucas, who is now laying on the ground. While Valerie applies stitches to the wound, Victor walks over to her and says softly, "We may all be different from one another, but there is one thing that I know for certain that the three of us have in common."

Valerie asks, "And what might that be?"

Lucas groans in pain, as he says, "We're all victims at heart of the Black Scorpions and no matter what happens, we'll be in this. Together."

* * *

Team RWBY, Jaune, Ren, and Nora all head downstairs with the bounty hunters, to see Valerie humming a quiet tune, making a cup of coffee. 

Blake asks, "So, you're Valerie, correct?"

Valerie says, "Yep." She holds out her hand to Blake, saying, "Valerie Carver, at your service."

Blake shakes it, before saying, "So your boyfriend Victor? He's a vigilante?"

"Yes. He goes by Reaper and is one of the few faunas not affiliated with the White Fang. He's also a cyborg. Largely cyborg."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh yeah, I don't think you've been properly introduced to him yet. Don't worry, he's up. You'll see him in a minute."

Victor walks in, saying tiredly, "Morning, Valerie."

"Good morning, my love~. Did you sleep well?"

He sits down at the table saying, "More or less. Where's Lucas?"

Valerie says, "He's up on the roof. Something about clearing his head and meditating."

Ruby asks, "What?"

Confused, Weiss asks, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means exactly how it sounds. He occasionally mediates. For what reason why he's on the roof, I'm not sure."

Weiss says, "I see..."

Ruby sits down next to Weiss, Yang, and Blake on the couch. 

Yang asks, "So, since we're getting to know one another better...mind telling us what your Semblance is?"

Victor stiffens at the mentioning of the word 'Semblance.' Weiss notices this and asks, "What's your problem?"

The red-haired woman says, "Semblances are a sore subject for him, unfortunately."

Yang asks, "And why is that? Does he not know what it is yet or something?"

Victor says, "No, that's not it at all. Fine. Since you all want to know so badly, I'll tell you. My Semblance is Shadow Armor. I can create thick plated armor out of shadows. When there are more shadows around, I can make the armor thicker and stronger."

Valerie says, "Well since we're sharing, might as well say mine. My Semblance is called 'The Maurader' because I summon a seven-foot-tall knight, paladin creature thing. It drains a lot of my energy, which is why I'm not summoning him now."

Yang says, "That's...bizarre."

"Yeah, I know."

Weiss asks, "So then what's Lucas's?"

Blake replies, "His Semblance is called Disentangled. It allows him to create long tendrils out of shadows. If there are more shadows around, he can create more of them. Which I guess makes sense if Victor's semblance is Shadow Armor."

Victor nods his head, saying, "The Asher family line has the Semblances of creating objects from shadows. Each of us has our own, yes, but... it's genetic in our blood for us to be able to have the Shadow Semblance pass on from generation to generation."

Lucas then jumps through an open window, landing on his feet. He notices everyone turning to stare at him, which he says, "Hello. What's up?"

Ruby asks, "Why were you on the roof?"

Rubbing the back of his head, Lucas says nervously, "I...nneded to clear my head. I had a lot of things that I needed to sort out."

Blake then goes over to him and takes his human hand in hers, saying, "Hey. You can talk to us, you know that right? We're friends."

Lucas places his robotic hand on Blake's cheek, saying, "You and I are friends. Victor and Valerie are my friends. But I don't think I have enough trust for anyone else to call them a friend." He removes his robotic hand from her face and pulls his human hand out of the cat faunas's grasp. 

"Besides, you hardly know anything about me."

Yang huffs, saying, "Then open up to us. We won't get anywhere if you don't tell us anything."

Silence ensues, before Lucas finally says, "...I want to...but I don't trust you. Not yet."

Noticing the tense atmosphere, Valerie asks in an enthusiastic tone, "Who wants some breakfast? I can make some breakfast!"

Victor says, "Brilliant idea, Valerie. I'll have some. What about you Lucas? Care to join your brother for breakfast?"

A small smile spreads across the younger wolf faunas's face, saying, "Yes. Yes, I would love to."

* * *

After breakfast, Lucas sits by a window, gazing out at the world outside, with a blank stare. In his robotic hand, is a chained necklace with two golden-colored dog tags. He brings the dog tags to his eye level and stares at them with a sad gaze. In a soft, almost whisper, he mutters, "Forgive me, Marceline."

Ruby notices the wolf faunas's misery, so she walks over to him, asking, "Hey. Is everything okay?"

Lucas looks up at her, with his robotic eye now a deep blue color. He replies, "Yes. Everything is fine."

Ruby notices the shift in his robotic eye color, and says, "Then why is your robotic eye dark blue? I thought it was a lighter shade of blue."

Lucas goes silent, stiffening at her question for a few minutes. Blake, Yang and Weiss enter the room. 

"It was light blue. The color of my robotic eye changes based on my emotions. Red is anger, dark blue is sadness...and so on."

Weiss asks, "Ruby, what's going on?"

Ruby replies, "It's okay Weiss! I was just checking up on Lucas to see if he was alright. He says that he is..."

Yang quickly interjects, "He doesn't seem like he is."

Lucas finally snaps out in anger. His robotic eye turns red, which he yells, "I SAID I'M FINE!"

After hearing his outburst, Victor comes sprinting into the room wearing his skull mask, asking threateningly, "What did you do to my brother!?"

Yang says angrily, "What did we do? We didn't do anything to him! He just snapped at us for no reason whatsoever!"

Valerie walks in, asking, "Victor, what's going on?"

"Stay out of this!"

Weiss says, "Yang, calm down!"

Yang's eyes turn red, as she yells, "I told you to not tell me to calm down!"

Lucas starts shaking violently, slipping further into madness. He pulls out a large knife out of his boot and throws it past Yang's head, sticking it into the wall next to her. 

"Did you just try to hurt me!?"

Lucas replies calmly, "I was aiming beside your head on purpose. That was a warning. Piss me off and you'll be dead where you stand."

Jack and Freddo enter the room, weapons at the ready. 

Jack says darkly, "Try anything and you're dead."

Lucas's eyes widen in realization. He suddenly feels an overwhelming urge to murder the people standing in front of him. He quickly pulls out a capped syringe filled with a crimson red liquid. He rolls up his sleeve on his human arm and injects it into his vein, allowing the contents of it to flow throughout his bloodstream. He falls down onto his knees, screaming in pain. 

Victor screams, "LUCAS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?"

Lucas manages to respond through his screams, "Protecting you from me!"

Ruby says, "Guys, we should help him!"

Valerie responds sadly, "There is nothing that we can do for him at the moment. All we can do is let the neutralizer run its course."

Lucas keeps screaming until he suddenly falls unconscious. Victor runs over to him and picks him up. He stays silent, which Valerie asks cautiously, "Victor?"

The older wolf faunas says in misery, "What did those bastards do to him? He doesn't deserve this. No one does."

"Victor, wait-"

"And there's nothing that I can do to help him. NOTHING!"

Lucas's eyes slowly open up, which he croaks out, "Brother, it's okay. I'm okay now."

Startled by his sudden awakening, Victor says, "H-How did you wake up that fast?"

"I'm not sure. I guess its an effect of the neutralizer. I put people in danger. Again. I lost control over myself. I could have killed you. I could have killed Valerie. I could have killed them. I-I'm sorry that you have to deal with a monster like me."

Jack asks, "Would you care to explain what's going on?"

Lucas quickly stands up, saying, "I guess after that, you all deserve one."


	10. Pasts Remembered

3rd P.O.V.

Lucas says, "Ruby."

Ruby looks at him, asking, "Yeah? Do you need something?"

"Have you ever lost someone close to you, Ruby?"

Her eyes widen, which she asks, "W-Why do you ask?"

"Because I have. I have lost almost everyone I have cared about. Both of my parents and my girlfriend Marceline are gone. The only people that I have left are the two that share my pain. The ones that you call criminals."

Jack replies, "I never called Valerie a criminal. She attacked Freddo and I."

"That is irrelevant. What is, however, is that my world has never been the same. I-I'm sorry for causing anyone grief here. I never asked to be like this. I never asked to be a monster."

Jack's eyes soften a bit, with disbelief spreading across his face. He says, "I'm sorry for calling you scum and for stabbing you. It's just...I have a deep hatred for the White Fang. You, however, still owe us an explanation."

"Right. As you know by now, the three of us are experiments of the Black Scorpions. I was the last one, known as Project Omega. By that point, the scientists were stronger in their technology. I was injected with a serum that enhanced my physical abilities. However, there was a side effect. The side effect is that I'm prone to fits of extreme violence where I'm often unable to control myself. Anyone in my vision is an enemy in my mind during these periods."

Lucas starts laughing darkly, which scares the people around him. 

"You know what I did to them? I killed them. It was rather something I enjoyed, watching them bleed out, hearing their pleas to stop what I was doing. But you know what? I didn't listen. I slaughtered all of them like animals, without pity nor mercy. They made me a monster, so a monster was what I became. They became the victims of their own creation. I finally got my revenge."

The wolf faunas notices their stares, which he says indifferently, "If you went what I had to go through, you wouldn't be exactly sane either."

Valerie replies, "One of us did, for the most part. I ended up not losing my sanity, but the one thing that's always a constant reminder of the past...are the nightmares."

Ruby sighs deeply, saying, "I promise you that I will do everything that I possibly can to help you and to fix you; to get rid of this virus that makes you volatile."

His eyes widen in disbelief, as he stares at her. 

"You would do that, for me?"

"Of course. We're friends after all."

"Friends? Heh...it's been so long since I've had one. Very well, Ruby Rose. I will hold you to your promise. I shall be your...friend."

* * *

A few hours later, when everyone is having lunch, Blake asks, "So Lucas, what made you join the White Fang?"

Lucas stares at her, as Weiss and Yang lean in on their conversation. 

"I wanted a purpose in my life that didn't involve pain."

"I see."

Jack asks, "Who's the leader of them?"

Lucas replies, "It was a bull faunas named Adam Tauras."

Yang says, "The one who cut off my arm."

"Where is he now?"

Blake responds, "He was the one who set up the attack on Haven, but he ran away."

Jack says, "That's a shame. I could have killed him there."

Blake's eyes narrow in anger, asking, "Why? What's your problem with Adam?"

"The White Fang is the reason why someone close to me betrayed me."

"It's still not right."

"But it would be damn satisfying."

"We're supposed to be the good guys. We shouldn't kill him."

"With all of the lives he has taken, he deserves death!"

Lucas stands up, slamming his robotic hand on the table. His robotic eye flashes red, saying, "Adam Tauras doesn't deserve death. He deserves something far worse than that."

Jack responds, "That's not going to happen. We don't torture people."

Blake retorts, "Oh, but you're willing to kill?"

Lucas walks away from them, heading to the courtyard. 

Jack responds, "To protect the ones I care about, yes."

"There are other ways. We're not executioners."

Yang says, "Woah. Take it easy, you two."

Weiss says, "I agree with Yang. We're on the same side."

His eyes narrow in anger, saying, "You don't know what I've been through. It's hard out there, being a bounty hunter. There are terrible things that people have done, for which deserve death. You young girls don't understand."

Victor says, "Team RWBY wouldn't, but I do. You forget that I have taken lives myself. You forget that I'm a victim of insane psychopathic sons of bitches. Hell, you forget the torture that some of us have felt. Although killing isn't the right thing to do, there are those who deserve to be wiped off the face of Remnant."

Valerie grips onto her boyfriend's shoulders, saying, "Victor, calm down. You're getting yourself worked up over nothing, again."

He sighs deeply, saying, "You're probably right, Valerie."

Blake asks Jack, "Well?"

He relents saying, "Fine, you have a point. Maybe killing isn't the best choice. I'll stop."

"Good."

Jaune then looks around, asking, "Where's Lucas?"

* * *

Lucas takes a whiff of his cigarette, while a woman with short purple hair around neck level, walks up to him. Her eyes are heterochromia, her left eye blue, and her right eye green. She wears a black crop top and short jeans, with brown combat boots. On her right hand is a blue robotic fist like weapon and a submachine gun rests on her back. 

The woman says, "Hello, Lucas."

He looks up, and asks, "Veronica. What are you doing here?"

"That's my business, not yours."

His eyes turn cold, replying, "It doesn't matter. You bring trouble everywhere you go."

The purple-haired woman laughs, saying, "Well, that's your personal opinion."

Suddenly, a bullet whirs through the air and hits her knee cap. Jack walks up to her, which Veronica looks up at him, glaring. 

"You bitch! Who the hell do you think you are!?"

Jack takes off his helmet, which her eyes widen in shock when she realizes who is standing before her. 

He asks, "Miss me, bitch?"

Veronica says, "So what if I did? You wouldn't care either way. I made my choice...and it seems you have too."

Lucas backs away in fear, only for Jack to turn his head in his direction, glaring at him. 

Suddenly, a woman with mid-back length black hair and red eyes appears out of nowhere. In her hand is a crossbow with a bayonet. She runs up to them and points her crossbow at Jack's head, which in retaliation, Jack points his revolver at her's. 

The black-haired woman says, "Touch her again, and see what happens."

He cocks back the hammer, saying, "It appears that we have a standoff."

Team RWBY and Freddo walk outside, noticing the situation. Freddo, who's wearing his mech suit, pulls out his two flame swords, pointing them at the woman. 

He says, "Stop this, Marceline. You know how this will end if you choose to do this."

Lucas's eyes widen, as he says in disbelief, "No. It can't be. I watched you die."

Marceline lowers her crossbow, saying, "I meant what I said. Don't touch Veronica again." She turns towards Freddo, asking, "How do you know my name? Who are you?"

The plates in Freddo's helmet move, which reveals his face. He says, "We knew each other in our childhood. We were best friends."

Blake takes notice of the White Fang masks on the belts of both Veronica and Marceline. She exclaims, "You're part of the White Fang!"

Ruby then asks, "Why are you here?"

Veronica replies quickly, "That's not your business."

Marceline says, "Veronica, we're in no position to refuse to cooperate."

"Yes, we are! Don't trust them! We don't trust anyone but ourselves, remember!?" 

Lucas walks up to Marceline, asking, "Is that you? Is it really you?"

She turns towards him, saying, "Lucas...we came for you."

Lucas hugs her tightly, saying, "I've missed you, Marceline."

She replies happily, "And I have missed you too, my little wolf."

Veronica says sarcastically, "Well this is all a very touching reunion."

Jack responds, "Shut the hell up, bitch. As for you, Marceline. Why are you here? What do you want with Lucas?"

Marceline looks around frantically, before saying, "It's not safe to talk here. Do you have anywhere we can talk privately?"

Jack says, "You're being surprisingly cooperative. Why is that?"

"Because I have no reason not to be."

Veronica snaps, "Easy for you to say!" She gets up in pain and leans against the wall. 

Marceline asks, "Do you have somewhere we can talk privately?"

Jack replies, "Yes. Inside here, where we're staying will suffice."

"Right. Lucas, get Veronica."

Lucas goes over to the purple-haired woman and picks her up, before all of them heading inside the house. 


	11. Old Friends, New Goals

3rd P.O.V. 

Once everyone is inside, Valerie breaks the silence saying, "Oh hey guys! Where have you been?"

Lucas walks in, holding Veronica in his arms, with Marceline behind him. Victor notices the two new women, which he runs over to where the table of weapons are, picking up his silver revolver. He twirls is, before pointing it at Marceline, growling. 

"Why are you White Fang bastards here?"

Valerie then grabs Victor's revolver from his hand, chucking it across the room, saying, "Don't threaten people who haven't had a chance to explain themselves, Victor. I'm sure that they have a good reason for being here, if they're with the bounty hunters."

Marceline says, "Very perceptive, Valerie."

Her eyes widen in shock, before asking, "Do I know you?"

"You will in time. You must be Victor." She turns towards the wolf faunas.

Victor growls, saying, "How do you know who we are?!"

Lucas sets Veronica on the couch, saying to his brother, "Victor, stop. These are old friends of mine, so I would appreciate it if you treated them with a little more respect."

Marceline says, "It's okay Lucas, I've got this. I haven't formally introduced myself yet. My name is Marceline Guerra, and my friend over there is Veronica Kaiser."

Veronica waves her hand, saying, "' Sup. 'Bout time you introduced me."

Jack says, "Shut it, you."

Qrow, Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Oscar watch them from the kitchen. Qrow takes a drink from his flask, before asking, "Why are you two here?"

Marceline says, "To the point then. I like it. Veronica and I have been searching for three certain people, and to our luck, it seems that we have found all three."

Jack asks, "Who is it that you're looking for?"

"We're here for Projects Alpha, Omega, and Delta."

Valerie's eyes narrow in rage, which she sprints over to the other side of the room and picks up her double cylinder revolver, then picking up Victor's up from the floor. She tosses the silver revolver to Victor, who catches it in the air. Finger on the trigger, he points it at Marceline, saying in rage, "I thought we slaughtered all of you worthless parasites! you all deserve to be tortured for all of the pain, no, the torment that you have caused us!"

Valerie agrees, saying, "We're not your slaves! We're not your test subjects nor are we your so-called weapons! What we are will be your destruction. We are the ones who kill pathetic animals like yourselves! Let's kill her Victor!"

Jack points his revolver at her, asking, "Are you the one who poisoned my sister?"

Qrow interjects saying, "Everybody calm down! We're not killing anybody."

Blake turns towards Jack, saying, "I thought you said that you weren't going to kill anyone!"

"I never said that I was going to kill her. I was going to shoot her in the arm."

Victor chuckles darkly. saying, "Oh, we're not going to kill you. I have something special in mind for bastards like you."

Jack says, "Not going to happen. We don't torture people. However, I want answers."

Victor retorts, "What gives you the right to dictate my actions? These animals tortured us! It's only fair that we do the same to them! Don't you agree, Valerie?"

Valerie falters, saying, "Jack raises a good point. If we torture her, that proves we're no better than them. Lucas, why aren't you saying anything?"

Lucas's robotic eye flashes red, which he then runs in front of Marceline, blocking her with his body. 

"If you want to get to her, you're going to have to get through me!"

Victor yells, "What the hell is wrong with you!? She's one of them! She's one of those damned scientists!"

Lucas says, "No, she isn't! She's my girlfriend, Marceline Guerra. My supposed dead girlfriend."

Jack lowers the revolver, saying, "Alright, explain. You seem to know her."

Lucas grabs Marceline's White Fang mask from her belt, saying, "She's not one of the Black Scorpions. She was apart of the White Fang. Veronica was an illegal arms dealer years ago, selling weaponry to them illegally." 

Jack asks, "Then why is she looking for you three?"

"I don't know."

Marceline takes her mask back, placing it back on her belt. She then says, "I have news for you three. The Black Scorpions aren't dead. There are still a few members still alive."

Jack asks, "What do you know?"

"I don't know much."

Veronica says, "Lucas, help me up."

The wolf faunas grabs Veronica by her hand, helping her up onto her feet. Veronica uses the wall for support due to her damaged knee. 

"Our intel is limited, but we learned about the experiments performed. We learned a lot of information about Projects Alpha, Omega, and Deta through reports and audio logs left behind."

Freddo asks, "Do you still have them?"

Veronica says, "Yes. However, the audio is...disturbing, to say in the least."

This piques Jack's curiosity, prompting him to ask, "What do you mean?"

Marceline takes over talking, saying, "The audio logs contain the scientists recording their data, but there are screams of agony in the background."

Victor shudders at the various memories from his time with the Black Scorpions. Valerie notices this, which she pleads, "Don't play them. Please. It will only bring back painful memories to us."

Jack responds, "We're not going to, if they tell us what's on them."

Marceline continues, "There was nothing very significant, except for one thing in particular. There was someone by the name of Bloodshot mentioned in one of their tests. Someone who was deemed as 'the most successful' out of the previous test subjects. The thing is the man who was talking addressed himself as the head scientist and referred to Bloodshot as his sons. Other than that, that's about it."

Jack says, "Interesting. It appears that there is another one."

Victor says, "It appears so."

Jaune asks, "What's so bad about this group? They sound like a bunch of White Fang wannabes."

Lucas's robotic eye turns red once more. He steals Victor's revolver out of his brother's hand, saying, "The Black Scorpions are nothing like the White Fang! If you say something as idiotic as that again, I will personally feed you to the Grimm!"

Unfazed by his anger, he says, "The White Fang has done far more than this group."

Lucas's hand starts shaking, as he lowers the revolver. He says softly, "You're not wrong. More people have suffered at the hands of the White Fang than those at the hand of the Black Scorpions. I'm sorry. I was overreacting. This topic is...personal to me, Valerie and Victor."

Suddenly an explosion goes off outside, grabbing everyone's attention. Jack immediately sprints out the door, finding a note attached to a post. 

_'Meet me in the forest. It's time to settle this. -Bloodshot'_


	12. Endgame

3rd P.O.V.

Jack grabs the note and heads back inside. 

Ruby asks, "What was that?"

"An explosion. I found this note signed by Bloodshot."

Valerie asks, "What does it say?"

"It says to meet him in the forest to settle this."

Freddo says, "We need to formulate a plan to ensure our safety. We don;t know what exactly we're going up against."

Jaune says, "We should probably get our weapons and prepare for battle."

Qrow says, "I don't think that's such a good idea. We don't even know how powerful this Bloodshot guy is."

Victor says, "We don't have a choice. Bloodshot is the last person who is affiliated with the Black Scorpions. He must be defeated."

Jack says, "Victor's right.m We have to take this guy out. If Qrow and Oscar want to stay here to guard the relic, then that's fine. Victor, Valerie, Lucas. Go and get your weapons."

The three cyborgs arm themselves with their gear and return to Jack and Freddo. Jack pulls out his automatic rifle and thrusts it into Victor's hands. 

"Don't make me regret this."

Victor nods his head, saying, "Understood."

Valerie turns towards Team RWBY, Jaune, Ren and Nora, asking, "Are you guys ready."

They all verbally agree to her. 

"Good, then let's get going."

Marceline arms herself with her crossbow with bayonet, while Veronica's aura heals her wound in her knee. She stands up and readies herself with her weapons. 

They all leave the house and head into the woods not far from Mistral. Suddenly, they see a mysterious figure wearing a black trenchcoat with white and red shoulder plates. He wears a white and red mask that covers the top half of his face. Grey hair is visible underneath the black hood. 

The figure says, "So, you finally made it, Jack Jameson. I see that you brought some friends with you."

Jack asks, "How do you know my name?"

"Oh haven't you figured it out yet? I'm the one who left the note for you."

Lucas growls, saying, "Bloodshot."

Bloodshot says, "Correct, Project Omega. But enough talk. It's time to settle this, once and for all. Let's even the odds a bit, shall we?"

Bloodshot uses his Semblance to create three clones of himself. The clones and him all sprint into different directions into the woods, each separating themselves from one another.

Jack says, "Damn! Everyone, we need to split up! Freddo, you take Yang, Blake, and Veronica and follow the Bloodshot that went Northeast. Ruby, you take Weiss, Lucas, and Marceline and go East. Jaune, take your team and go West. Victor, Valerie, on me. Let's go!'

The four groups split up into their respective directions after each of the Bloodshots. Jack sprints into the direction of one of the Bloodshots, with Valerie and Victor right behind him. They make it to a clearing, where Bloodshot waits for them. 

He says, "Ah, so you found me, and not one of my clones. You're a smart man, Jameson. Let's finish this, shall we?"

Jack uses his Semblance to summon a sword made out of lightning. He screams, "You're going down, bitch!"

Jack holsters his revolver and then fires a barrage of lightning at Bloodshot, which he dodges by jumping over it. He takes out his automatic shotgun and fires it at the bounty hunter. Jack fires electricity at each of the bullets before they can reach him. He charges up to Bloodshot and swings his electric sword at him, which Bloodshot counters by blocking it with his red sword. 

He taunts, "Poor Jack Jameson, believing that his parents died in a mining accident. Don't you remember? They never found the bodies!"

Valerie and Victor lay down covering fire when Bloodshot creates two more clones of his to keep them occupied. Jack meanwhile, creates an electric battle axe and swings it at the man in front of him, who counters with another sword, this time white. 

"You don't understand, do you, bounty hunter? I was the one who poisoned your sister. I was the one who murdered your parents. The only reason that I exist is to make you suffer and to bury the past of the Black Scorpions. Once I'm through with you, the experiments are next. After that, then I'm coming for your sister Alex."

Jack kicks Bloodshot in the stomach, stabbing him with the electric sword, then disarming the swords in Bloodshot's hands with his electric axe. The swords clatter to the ground, as Bloodshot falls onto his knees. 

Jack pulls put his revolver and points it against Bloodshot's head, saying darkly, "You're a dead man."

Suddenly, the three groups of people make their way to the clearing, where they all witness Jack holding the revolver to Bloodshot's head. 

Blake screams, "Jack! Don't do this!"

Jack doesn't listen and fires the revolver. A single shell falls out of the chamber. Bloodshot crumbles to the ground...dead.

Blake screams, "You murderous bastard! How could you!? You promised me! You promised!" 

She collapses onto the ground, which Yang quickly follows suit, holding her in her arms. 

Jack drops his revolver onto the ground and takes off his helmet, throwing it in a random direction. He falls onto his knees saying, "I'm sorry."

Blake replies harshly, "Sorry doesn't cut it. You just killed a man!"

He screams, "You don't understand! He was the one who murdered my parents and poisoned my sister! There was no other way!"

The cat faunas sadly looks up to him, saying, "There's always another way."

Everyone watches as blood pours out from underneath Bloodshot's mask, pooling around him.

* * *

Several hours later, everyone lies back at the house. 

Qrow says, "Hey everyone, make sure that your stuff is packed. We leave for a train to Atlas in two weeks. Be ready by then."

Victor sighs deeply, saying, "So this is how it ends? We are going to Atlas."

Lucas says, "No matter what happens, we'll be there with you for every step of the way."

Valerie says, "You're not shaking us off of you, that easy Victor."

Marceline says, "You got that right, wolf."

Veronica says, "What the hell are we waiting for? Let's get this party started!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thanks for reading my brother's, my friend's and my's fanfiction "Into The Storm". There will be a sequel that will come out soon, that will take place during Volumes 6 and 7. See you then!  
-Sidtrap1987


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